Cell door construction



Jan. 23, 1951 J. E. CREECH CELL DOOR CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledFeb. 20, 1948 '43 INVENTOR.

JQSSQ E, Creecfi Jan. 23, 1951 J. E. G EECE 2,539,345

CELL DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 20. 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ly/ .2:. J4

J7 i E as .33 L' ,f 2? 29 28 6 J4 Z5 Z2 IN V EN TOR. Jesse E: C/"ee cJan. 23, 1951 J. E. CREECYH CELL DOOR CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 15Filed Feb. 20, 1948 IN V EN TOR.

Lfe sse E Ghee c/5 Jan. 23, 1951 J. E. CREECH 2,539,345

7 CELL DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 20, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.Jesse ET,C/'eec/ Patented Jan. 23, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3Claims.

This invention relates to a cell door construction, and moreparticularly to a door construction for a cell having its inner surfacepadded, and therefore suitable for the confinement of violent prisonersand mental patients.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide a dual doorconstruction, one of the doors being solid, and the other door beingconstructed of a heavy screen mesh, the two doors being connected insuch a fashion that upon theoperation, that is opening, or closing ofthe main or solid door the other or heavy screen door or barrier isautomatically moved into position to close the entrance to the cell. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a solid door and a heavyscreen door or barrier, the solid door being provided with a cam trackmechanism, whereby when the solid door is swung or, during the course ofits opening movement, the screen door or barrier is gradually moved tocover the opening, the doors operating in such unison so that the spaceleft open is never sullicient for a prisoner or the like to escape.

Another object of the invention is to mount the screen door or barrierin a solid frame, whereby when the solid door is opened, the barrierdoor is adapted to be unlatched for access to the interior of the cell.

A further object of the invention is to provide a feed opening in thelower portion of the solid door through which the prisoner or patientcan be fed without the possibility of escape.

Another object of the invention is to provide the cell with a heavyscreen wire top, said top having an open ng therein whereby access maybe had to the cell at its uppermost portion.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a front elevational view showing a portion of the cell and thesolid and screen doors, the solid door being shown in closed position;

Fig. 2 is a partial top plan view looking down on the cell showing thesolid door in closed posi tion;

Fig, 3 is a front elevational view showing the solid door open and thescreen door moved into place to close the cell opening;

Fig. 4 is a partial top plan View showing the solid door in openposition and the screen door moved to its closed position;

Fig. 5 is a partial vertical view looking towards the right hand side ofFig. 2;

Figsfi is a partial vertical view looking toward the left hand side ofFig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a partial view looking upward showing the cam track and itsoperating mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a bottom view of the cam track member;

Fig. 9 is a section through Fig. 1 showing the locking means for thescreen door; and I Fig. 10 is a front view partly in section showing thelocking pin.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which likenumerals indicate similar parts throughout the various views.

Referring especially to Fig. 1 a portion of the front of a cell isindicated at 6, said cell being provided with an opening 1, said openinghaving hinged thereto as by the hinges 8 a solid door 9. The frontportion of the cell is also provided with a heavy screen door or barrierIll, which will later be described, which closes the opening 1 uponpivotal movement of the solid door 9. The door 9 has attached thereto anoffset bracket ll, said bracket being welded to the outer surface of thedoor relatively close to its hinged side. Welded to the outer portion ofthe cell and just above the opening is a double bracket l2 havingpositioned through its outer end a bolt l3 provided with a nut [4, thelower end of the bolt engaging a cam track member l5 at its innerextremity, whereby the cam member is adapted to be moved about the boltM as a pivot. The cam member [5 is provided with downwardly extendingtrack flanges l6 and H, the said track members being adapted to engagerollers l8 and I9, said rollers being freely mounted on pins 20 and 2|extending upwardly from the top portion of the bracket I l The cammember 15 also has welded thereto on its upper surface a bracket 22,said bracket having attached to its outer end as by a pin or the like23, a rod 24 having a flattened end for engagement with the pin 23. Therod 24 extends from the bracket 22 to pinned engagement at 26 with apinion 26. The screen door ID has welded to its outer surface brackets21 and 28, said brackets carrying a rack member 29 securely fastenedthereto. Welded to the outer surface of the cell is a complementary rackmember 30, and as it will be seen the pinion 26 is adapted to movewithin the confines of the respective racks, during the operation ofopening and closing the main or solid door. It will be readilyunderstood that in the movement of the solid door 9 to its open positionthe pinion 26, by the pull of the rod 24, and its engagement with thestationary rack 30 will at the same time engage the-rack 29 and causethe screen door or barrier lflto move to a position to cover theopening, and such movement of the door ID, that is its rate of movementwill be controlled by the contour of the cam track I! and the engagementof the roller 18 therewith. The cam tracks l and I? are so fashioned asto cause the screen door in its initial movement to move rather slowly,but upon the further movement of the door 9 the track I? is so shapedthat we have a fast closing of the heavy screen door or barrier ill, andin this manner the cell opening is substantially covered at all times.

As will be noted the barrier I0 is mounted at its upper part on rollers3| and 32, said rollers moving in a track member 33, said track memherbeing welded to the front portion of the cell.

The top of the cell, being of a heavy screen as indicated at 3 isprovided'with an opening closed as by a swinging door 36. The cell isprovided adjacent one side and leading up to the top thereof with aladder 31, whereby, in the event that it is desirable to wash thepatient, the attendant takes a hose, for example, up the ladder 31,opens the door 36 and is able thereby to give violent patients a warmshower bath.

The front of the cell has welded thereto a lock bar 38 which is providednear one end thereof with a bolt opening 39, the barrier or screen doorframe having welded thereto a casing 49, said casing having mounted formovement therethrough a locking bolt 4!, said bolt being pro-- videdwith an operating head i2 and also having rigidly mounted thereto withinthe casing a washer 43, and a coil compression spring 44 mounted betweenthe washer 4-3 and the inner surface of the outer wall of the casingwhereby, the locking pin 4! is normally urged into locking positionwithin the recess 39 in the locking bar when the screen door is moved toa position to cover the opening.

The screen door or barrier I 9 has a solid member extending across thecenter thereof, the same being provided with the usual latchingmechanism liia which is operated as by handle 45'. The barrier isfurther mounted in a solid frame 11 to which it is pivoted as by hinges48, and it will be readily understood that in the movement of the screenorbarrier door the entire frame A! also moves.

The solid door 9 is likewise provided with a lock operating handle 49said handle operating a usual and well known locking mechanism notshown. The door is provided with a small feed opening 59 formed in thelower portion thereof and adapted to be closed as by a sliding door 5|movable in guides 52 along the outer surface of the door. The door 9also carries a plug 53 which is removable to give access to the openingfor serving the patient.

In the operation of the device, assuming that the solid door 9 is in itsclosed position and the heavy screen door or barrier ID moved to itsstored position adjacent the front side of the cell, as disclosed inFig. l, the attendant unlocks the main door by the handle 49, and inmoving the same toward its open position as seen in Fig. 3 the bracket Hwhich is welded to the door 9 and provided with cam engaging rollers l8and ii! is moved, the rollers engaging the cam surfaces thereby swingingthe cam member !5 on its pivot [3V to the position shown in Fig. 4 forexample, the bracket 22 being carried by the cam plate [5 pulls the rod24 to the right thus causing the pinion as to rotate in acounterclockwise direction, wherebythe, pinion inengageinent with therack 29 forming a stationary part of the door l9 moves the door orbarrier ID to the right, such movement being determined by the contourof the cam track H, and thus it will readily be seen, that due to thecontour and shape of the cam track ll, as the door 9 is moving to itsopen position the barrier I0 is sliding to close the opening left by themovement of the door 9, and the cam track I7 is so fashioned that theheavy screen door 19 moves to cover the. opening at such a rate that theopening is never large enough for the possibility of the escape of thepatient. In the operation of closing the door 9 the cam roller 19engages the track member I6, and as the door 9 is being moved to closedposition the rod 24 is being moved to the left, the pinion 26 moving ina clockwise direction and engaging the rack 29 moves the door or barrierto lengthwise across the face of the cell to its stored position, andthe contour and shape of the cam flange I6 is so fashioned that at notime during the closing operation of the door 9 will the opening left bythe screen door or barrier Iii be of such a size as to permit the escapeof the patient. The door 9 is provided at its lower end by a feedopening whereby feed can be passed into the patient from time to time asdesired.

For locking the heavy screen door or barrier 19 in a position across theopening and making it impossible for one within the cell to have accessto said lock, a bar 38 is welded to the front surface of the cell and isprovided adjacent one end with a hole or opening which is adapted toreceive the locking bolt 41 when the frame of the barrier 49 is moved toits extreme position to the right.

The invention is not limited to the exact construction shown but iscapable of variation within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a cell door construction in combination with a cell having a dooropening therein, a swinging solid door and a slidable barrier door forclosing said door opening, the barrier door beir. simultaneously movedacross said door opening the swinging door is swung to open position, apivoted cam track member mounted on the cell above the swinging door, acam track engaging member mounted on the swinging door and engaging andmoving the track member when the door is swung, an operating rod havingone end pivotally connected to the cam track and movable with the samewhen the latter is moved, a pinion on the opposite end of the operatingrod, a fixed rack mounted on the cell above the barrier door, and asecond rack carried by the barrier door and oppositely disposed to thefixed rack, said pinion on the operating rod engaging both racks,whereby when the swinging door is swung to open position the cam trackmember moved about its pivot to "move the operating rod to cause thepinion to rotate to simultaneously move the sliding barrier door acrossthe door opening.

2. The combination recited claim 1, and a guide track for the slidingdoor mounted on the cell above said door and rollers mounted on thesliding door and engaging in said track.

3. A combined door and screen barrier for a door opening in a cell orthe like, comprising in combination a solid door pivoted to said dooropening, a cam track pivotally mounted above said door, a cam engagingmember fixed to said solid door and engaging said cam track to move thesame when the door is swung, an operating v 2,539,345 5 I a rod havingone end fixed to the cam track and the opening in proportion to themovement of its opposite end being provided with a pinion, the soliddoor.

a slidable screen barrier mounted on a track and JESSE E, REE E,slidable to close the cell door opening simultaneously with the movementof the pivoted door, 5 REFERENCES CITED a pair of oppositely disposedracks, one fixed to the cell wall and the other movable with theslidable barrier, said pinion engaging between The following referencesare of record in the file of this patent:

the two racks, whereby movement of the pivoted UNITED STATES PATENTSdoor moves the cam track about its pivot there- 10 Number Name Date bymoving the operating rod the pinion being 497,090 Corning May 9, 1893rotated by the racks as the operating rod is moved 704,887 Low July 15,1902 to simultaneously move the screen barrier across 2,397,926 CreeehApr. 9, 1946

